Nicole colpsed into her normal booth, her team taking their own seats around her. Being unable to report the exact specifics of what she uncovered wasn’t sitting well with Nicole, but what was she supposed to do? Nicole reported that they found bodies at the site of the accident and left it at that. Sincir had the people needed to clean up the rest of the mess he dug for himself.

  At least Sincir hadn’t shown up and stuck his head in things, she did not have the spoons to deal with that man after the day she just had. Seriously, Nicole hadn’t been this tired in ages and while she did want to just curl up in bed and rex, she knew that her team had worked hard and deserved some comfort food after that disaster.

  Granted, they had just worked evacuation, but that didn’t mean her team didn’t see their share of corpses. It was a sad reality of what they had to become, but a weak stomach tended to be one of the first things lost when dealing with their line of work. She knew the sight of charred corpses would haunt them for days to come and that only time would provide distance from those horrible events.

  The TV in the corner was tuned in to the coverage of the fires and Nicole could only sigh as primary colors fshed on screen. Fresh vines blocked the spreading fmes as Devon carried three people over his shoulders, shining barriers surrounding them as the fmes parted.

  Gertie paid it no mind as she swiftly fell upon their table and everyone muttered ‘my usual’ in near unison. That Gertie just nodded and turned around spoke to how often the group ended up using the diner as their recovery destination.

  Nobody really said anything as their drinks were brought over, Nicole clutched her coffee like a lifeline, taking slow sips as she gred at the reporter taking a sensational approach to the Rangers and their contribution to containing the bze. The fire department never got their full due when she got involved, but at the same time?

  Ranger involvement saved lives.

  “Nah, that there fire was cover fer sometin,” Sam said, flipping a pan of eggs with practiced ease. “It’s all a govmnet covaup I tells ya!”

  “Will you shut up?” Gertie demanded, bringing over several ptes, including Nicole’s own. “You think every random fire is some shadow government cover up, or the real aliens behind the invasion.”

  Sam pted the eggs, then spun with a huff. “There’s more to this than the Syn! I mean come on, it’s not even a clever name! One pidly sound off from a popur machine race! It’s like the government just phoned in the first name that came to mind.”

  “Is it just me or does his accent drop when he starts ranting?” Kay whispered.

  Grace chuckled. “Just now noticing that?”

  “Shut up,” Kay said, rolling her eyes. “Unlike you two I don’t practically live here.”

  “It’s got good food,” Nicole said with a shrug as she cut into her country fried steak the moment it was pced before her. “Plus it’s close enough to campus that I can come here on foot without raising suspicion.”

  Grace snorted, shaking her head. “Says the girl that jogged all the way downtown for a cinnamon roll from the Savory Bake House.”

  Nicole looked away to hide the heat flooding her cheeks. “They have good stuff, and the owners are pretty neat, okay?”

  “And we appreciate that,” Gertie said with a wink. “Pay my husband no mind, he likes to py it up for the customers.”

  Jeff blinked, looking between the waitress and the line cook. Gertie just smiled and waved him off as she moved to pick up the remaining ptes from their order. Grace and Nicole shared a knowing look as they struggled to contain their ughter at the gobsmacked expressions on their friends faces.

  “I would not have called that,” Devon said with a raised eyebrow. “She’s far too good for him.”

  “I heard that!” Sam yelled. “Next time I’ll salt yer pancakes!”

  Devon shivered in revulsion.

  Grace bumped shoulders with Nicole, and the pair ughed as they took their time enjoying the early morning breakfast despite not having slept. Fortunately Nicole didn’t have anywhere to be for the rest of the day unless there was some major incident with the fires, but there were enough departments on the scene and things were contained, which should mean that the fire chief would keep her on call rather than ask her to continue working.

  “Oh god!” Kay suddenly shouted. Nicole jumped to her feet, a hand already on her wrist before Kay let out a whine and dropped her head to the table. “We’ve got css in the morning.”

  “Fuck,” Jeff muttered as Devon silently cursed over his pancakes.

  “You might, but Nicole and I are exempt,” Grace said smugly. “We’re employed with fire and rescue, so we have an actual excuse to miss.”

  Nicole held up a hand and Grace was quick to return the high five.

  “Lucky bitches,” Kay said. “Now I regret not signing up with your department.”

  “Steady pay and a built-in excuse,” Grace said, lifting her cup in a cheer. “I am so gd Nicole talked me into going with her.”

  “More like you just wanted to spend more time with her,” Jeff said with a snicker. “Besides, we’re not high schoolers. College is a lot more x with attendance than that cesspit ever was.”

  “That’s the truth,” Devon said, leaning back. “Fuck it, I’m skipping too.”

  “To truancy,” Kay cheered weakly, then downed half her coffee in one go. “I’m going to regret that in a few hours when I y down.”

  “Maybe,” Nicole said. “I’m hoping to sleep off st night like a bad hangover.”

  “You don’t drink,” Grace said.

  Nicole huffed. “I’ve been drunk before, there’s a reason I don’t drink now.”

  Grace hummed, but left it at that. She knew the reason, that Nicole still battled with her inner demons at times in the dark of the night. Even now the visions of death were dancing in the back of her mind. They wouldn’t allow each other to be alone for that very reason, not after having seen the things they did.

  “Well, we should call it here,” Grace said, dropping two twenties on the table before she stood. A hand was offered and Nicole could only shake her head fondly as she accepted the offered limb and let herself be pulled to her feet. “You guys take care, we’re going to go home and crash.”

  “Try to actually sleep,’ Kay said with a tired wink. “Just because Nicole’s roomie is spending more time with her boyfriend doesn’t mean you can take advantage of the situation.”

  “Like we have the energy for it,” Nicole said, fighting back a very real yawn. “You’ve got our number if something happens.”

  “Sure thing,” Kay said, her smile weak.

  Nicole added her own twenty to the center pile and moved to depart with her girlfriend. Just as they reached the door Gertie stepped close and sported a mischievous smile as she did. It immediately raised Nicole’s hackles which only saw Gertie’s smile widen.

  “Someone’s jumpy,” the kind woman said.

  “You spend hours fighting that crazy fire and see how you look after,” Nicole said, gesturing at the screen just as it switched to footage of her and Grace speaking with the Chief following the worst of the bze being contained. “I’d still be out there if the Chief hadn’t ordered me to take a break.”

  Gertie’s eyes flicked back at the screen for a moment, then her hand was on Nicole’s shoulder. “And we’re proud of you for it. I just worry you’re not taking care of yourself.”

  “As best I can,” Nicole answered.

  Grace nodded, pulling Nicole close. “Don’t worry, she’s got me looking out for her as well.”

  “That you better,” Gertie said firmly. “Watch out for one another, you two are some of our best customers and I expect to be serving you until I’m old and gray.”

  “You already are,” Sam yelled.

  Gertie’s eye twitched. “At least I’m not bald, you old badger!”

  The man only chuckled at that as he continued his work, not once having turned his focus away from the food being prepared in front of him. Knowing that the pair had owned the pce together for more than twenty years showed with how well he could work the grill.

  “Take care, you two, and I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “It is tomorrow,” Nicole said, then ughed at her own joke. “Well, we’ll likely see you sometime well after the sun rises.”

  “Fair enough sweeties,” Gertie said, and pressed a small bundle into her hands. Nicole knew better than to protest and accepted it gratefully. “Now go get some sleep, you’ve earned it.”

  As Nicole left with her girlfriend, her mind drifted back to the knowing look Gertie had when she looked at the screen. If the woman did know her secret, she never voiced it, and for that Nicole was grateful. Sam’s over the top conspiracy theories took on a different meaning in that light, and once again Nicole found herself smiling.

  “She knows,” Grace said once they got into the car.

  “Probably,” Nicole agreed. “And yet, it doesn’t bother me.”

  “True,” Grace said after a moment. “I know your identity is a bit flimsier than mine—” Nicole snorted at the ‘bit’ part of that statement. “—but it still feels weird to have so many know about us like that.”

  Nicole hummed in agreement. “I mean, the gymnastics coach clocked me, so at this point I’m convinced half the campus knows who we are but are just keeping their mouths shut out of respect for what we’ve done.”

  “Maybe,” Grace said softly. “I think you’re giving our cssmates too much credit there, but what do I know? This is the first real school I’ve attended.”

  “Rumors spread regardless of how much they might hurt, or how outndish they sound,” Nicole said. “It’s one of the immutable ws of the universe. Humans sort of suck like that.”

  “Yet we fight for them anyway,” Grace said softly.

  “We fight to protect the innocent. That many who aren’t get caught up in those efforts isn’t for us to be concerned about. We fight because there is nobody else to stand up for them.”

  Grace chuckled. “No need to remind me. I sure as hell know what I’m fighting for, and that is to have a future with my amazing girlfriend.”

  Nicole’s face burned crimson as she looked away, letting herself get distracted by the lights of the early morning hours. Most people were still sleeping, though many had begun to stir to start their days, especially those who worked downtown. She hadn’t had that luxury, and instead was only just getting to the point where she could rest.

  A quick shower, likely shared with her girlfriend for expediency, and she would colpse into bed and probably sleep for the next twelve hours. Nicole seemed to blink and suddenly they were parked at their dorms and it was time to go inside. Accepting that she had dozed off, Nicole got to her feet and nearly stumbled with how her legs felt like jelly.

  “Stretch it out,” Grace said, helping to support her. “Something tells me we’re both going to be sore as hell tomorrow.”

  “Maybe,” Nicole muttered. “Ranger healing will help one of us, at least.”

  “Not as much as you hope,” Grace said with a sigh. “We can worry about that ter, let’s just get inside first.”

  “Yes, Mistress,” Nicole teased.

  Grace snorted, then Nicole could only yelp as Grace pulled her up and over her shoulder into a textbook fireman carry. She then walked towards the dorms, carrying the no longer bleary-eyed Ranger even as she squirmed in her girlfriend’s grasp.

  “Unhand me you fiend!” Nicole yelled even as she fought to not ugh. “This is mutiny.”

  “Careful, or you’ll draw the attention of the stoners over by the vending machines,” Grace said, angling herself so that she could see a small collection of students that hadn’t noticed them just yet. “Oh boys~”

  “Silence!” Nicole hissed. “You win this one.”

  “As is only proper,” Grace procimed and resumed the trek inside. “We’ve got to get you tucked in before you pass out again.”

  “Shower first,” Nicole said, resigned to being treated like a sack of potatoes.

  Opening the dorm door, Grace paused for a moment. “Do you have the energy for that?”

  The lights were already on, which surprised Nicole, as did the familiar giggles coming from the kitchen as the digital click of a camera app sounded.

  “Becca?” Nicole squawked as Grace quickly helped her back to her feet. “Delete that this instant!”

  “Oh no,” her oldest friend said with a feral grin. “After the night you just put me through, I’m keeping this.”

  “I trust Colin is safe?” Nicole asked.

  “Safe as he can be,” Becca said. “And no, I’m not sure where he went after I had him leave town for the next few days. He’s going to be moving from pce to pce each night, and only calling as he’s departing.”

  “Decent op-sec,” Grace said. “It’s basically what I had to do when I first moved up here and the cult that follows my father kept trying to track me down.”

  Another piece of the puzzle, and yet another reason to y into Grace’s parents should she ever meet them.

  “Speaking of crazy,” Nicole said. “Have you heard anything from Sincir Industries?”

  Becca sighed, shaking her head. “Nothing yet, just that I’m on paid leave until they sort out this mess. I did get an apology from Kelly, for what little that was worth.”

  “Yeah, they probably don’t know I took this just yet,” Nicole said, revealing the watch on her wrist. “They cimed it didn’t work, and Anita handed it back to me.”

  “Oh, those fuckers,” Becca seethed as she ran her fingers along the device. “They did this without me and fucked the pooch for it. Now they’re going to dump the mess on my p and ask me what went wrong and I’m going to have to expin something stupidly basic that they no doubt overlooked!”

  Nicole could only wince at the rant, even if she wanted to rage. They had taken her morpher, offered in good faith, and used it to cause a fucking disaster that she had spent the better part of the st twelve hours cleaning up.

  “Do you know what they were working on?” Becca asked.

  “Uh,” Nicole held up her wrist. “I assumed it was my watch.”

  Becca ughed, though it was a touch manic and rather shrill. “Oh no. If they had used your watch for what I think they did, it would either be functional, or exploded. No, they did something else and I’m really fucking curious as to what that might be.”

  “Anita seemed to have a clue,” Grace said. “She was awfully interested in a wall covered in glowing lights.”

  Rebecca’s forehead creased in a frown. “That’s… Less than helpful.”

  “It’s all we got,” Grace said, then let out a yawn. “If it’s all the same, I’d like to get some sleep before Sincir decides to call us up to somehow try to bme us for cutting down a couple hundred of their security droids.”

  “Huh, Fredrick got those working,” Becca said with a far off look. “Ugh, it is too te to consider all this. I stayed up waiting for you to get home and I am fucking exhausted.”

  “I think we all are,” Nicole said, her feet a bit unsteady underneath her. “And unlike my beautiful girlfriend, I didn’t get a magical Ranger bath from dropping my morph. I really could use a shower after all that.”

  “Oh, you absolutely do,” Becca called out as she walked back to her room. “Again, just keep the moaning to a minimum, some of us need their beauty sleep.”

  “Whatever,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes. “We all know you’re plenty beautiful.”

  “Something, something, fttery,” Becca said with a yawn. “See you two lovebirds ter.”

  The door shut, the click of her lock being the st thing heard and left the two alone once more. Nicole was about to speak when a chime sounded and she pulled out her phone only to pale at the notification awaiting her.

  “Becca you bitch!”

  Cackling was all she heard as Grace snorted as the uploaded picture of Grace carrying Nicole was now avaible for all to see on Becca’s social media feed, and the reactions were already pouring in.

  “Come on,” Grace said, shaking her head with mirth. “Shower and sleep now, plot revenge ter.”

  “It will be horrible,” Nicole vowed.

  “Of course it will,” Grace agreed. “You’ll totally get her back for this.”

  “Damn right I will,” Nicole said. “Just you wait. Vengeance will be mine!”

  More ughter echoed through the closed door, and Nicole knew she would have to make it grand enough to be remembered, but Grace was also right. She was barely standing with how tired she was, not to mention how sweaty she’d gotten and the Ranger transformation only did so much for cleanliness. Shower then sleep, then Becca would rue the coming day!

  Pendragoon